Find resources for starting and sustaining productive relationships with foundations and government sponsors.

The Institute's Office of Foundation Relations and Grants works with a range of public and private organizations supporting Institute research, educational programs, scholarships, and capital projects.

Ready to start working on external funding? Faculty and staff can contact Meghan Rasmussen, the Institute’s director of Foundation Relations and Institutional Grants.

Support

Grants staff can help you define your approach; develop a high-quality, competitive proposal; serve as a liaison to the funder; and advise you on grant reporting and stewardship. The Institute has tools, data, and templates to assist faculty and staff with all phases of a grant.

Most grant-making organizations require that the Institute's grants office submit applications on behalf of our faculty and staff. Others do not explicitly require this but request information about institutional budgets and resources that require internal approvals. To facilitate and expedite this process, the Institute has implemented InfoEd for proposal routing and tracking.

Your proposal should be reviewed and endorsed before being submitted. This applies to all proposals regardless of the type of funder and size of the budget (or amount of indirect), and includes grants awarded directly to faculty members.

Contact

Frequently Asked Questions

Each sponsor is different, and we are here to guide you through their processes. Contact us before approaching a foundation, government agency, or company—this may greatly increase your chance of success and is required by the Institute. Start with us, and we will help.

We have developed relationships with some of the Institute's top foundation donors. With some foundations, we can help connect you with someone at the Institute or across Middlebury who has a relationship with them. We usually know if someone else at Middlebury is in conversation with a foundation and can work with you on the best timing and strategy for your approach. We often have examples of previously funded proposals to share, notes from foundation program officers about their current priorities, or other useful information to help increase your chances of success. If you are interested in a particular foundation, we will work closely with you to determine the best approach.

Although some institutional grants include student funding, grants staff do not help students with their individual fellowship applications. Please contact Professor David Wick, the 2018-19 Faculty Director of Fellowships or email institutefellowships@middlebury.edu.

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